Cotton cleaner for cotton picking machine



y 1960 s. T. GOLDEN 2,934,794

COTTON CLEANER FOR COTTON PICKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 5, 1957 FIG! INVENTOR.

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COTTON CLEANER FOR COTTON PKZKENG MACHINE Steven T. Golden, Phoenix, Aria.

Application December 5, 1957, Serial No. 700,793

' 2 Claims. (Cl. 19-46) This invention ,concerns a cotton cleaner for installation on a cotton picking machine.

Heretofore various mechanisms have been made and proposed for cleaning cotton after it has been drawn from the picking mechanism of a cotton picking machine by suction of the blowers employed on machines of this type and before it enters the cotton receiving cage on the machine.

For the most part these mechanisms fail to clean the cotton adequately and, considering their bulk and extra parts, have proved of little value and have fallen into disuse. 7

It is noted that one reason why these cleaners are not efiicient is that they have no definite agitating mechanism to shake the dirt out of the cotton tufts and that they attempt to use only a part of the full draft of air generated by the blower.

One of the objects of this cleaner is to provide a casing containing the cleaning mechanism which will confine and direct the complete blast of air from the blower or blowers on the picking machine and will subject the cotton to a centrifugal draft of air which will spin each individual tuft or lock on its own axis so that any dirt included in the lock will be thrown out and away from the fibers which include it.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a picking device, of the type above mentioned, a cotton cleaner which will force the cotton locks into a spiral path as they travel throughout the length of the cleaner case and cause each lock to spin on an axis in order to throw any included dirt out by centrifugal force and at the same time roll the cotton lock over the inner surface of a cylindrical screen which, extends throughout the length of the cleaner casing so that any dirt loosened from the cotton locks will be thrown, by centrifugal force, out of the screen toward the inner surface of the casing,

and any loose particles, such as pin trash, leaf particles and the like will be forced through the screen by centrifugal force and carried away in an air stream separate from the main air stream which carries the cotton locks.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a cleaner having a cylindrical case with a tangential inlet for air from the blower of a cotton picking machine and an outlet, and a cylindrical screen within the casing having its periphery spaced a short distance from the inner circular wall of the casing together with a spiral vane positioned Within the circular screen and adapted to force air travelling through the easing into a spiral path; the vane and screen being arranged so that locks of cotton will be forced into a spiral path and brought into contact with theinner surface of the screen so that each lock is rotated in order to spin dirt from it; said parts being also arranged-to force either loose pin trash or included dirt outward through the screen into the area between the screen and the case and thence outward through a separate trash outlet.

Still another object is to provide a vertically operating device which has a spiral vane of varying pitch which varies from a steep pitch at the entrance end to a lesser pitch at the exit end of a spiral path contained within a vertical case.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

I attain the foregoing objects by means of the mechanism, devices, parts and combinations of parts shown in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a form of cotton cleaner;

Figure 2 is a sectional view thereof taken on line 22 of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is an end view thereof;

Figure 4 is a midsectional view of an elevation of a modified form of cotton cleaner;

Figure 5 is a sectional view of the device shown in Figure 4 taken substantially on line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is an end portion of a modified form of screen;

Figure 7 is a modified form of screen showing rollers 12b instead of mesh screen shown in Figures 2 and 4;

Figure 8 is a cross sectional view of the screen type shown in Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a view of the plate to which the cotton outlet pipe ii) is attached.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts in the several views.

The body 2 of the cleaner is cylindrical and is placed transversely on the body of a cotton picking machine (not shown). Transition pieces 3 and 4 connect the respective ends 5 and 6 of the body to pipes 7 and 8 which lead to the outlet pipes of conventional blowers (not shown) operating on the cotton picking machine.

in the middle of the cylindrical body there is on out This is composed of a single piece of sheet metal which is cut and curved to form a spiral vane or guide which extends from each end of the case towards the center. It may be otherwise understood that there are two spiral vanes, such as 16 and 16a, in the right and left hand portions of the case. The first convolution at each end of the spiral guides is almost parallel with incoming air flow from the transistion pieces 3 and 4. Thereafter the pitch of the vane decreases toward'the center of the body.

This vanecurves the air entering at the ends of the body,

such as for example the air entering through pipe 8 in the direction indicated by the arrow A, in a spiral motion as it proceeds through the screen and easing toward the cotton outlet pipe 10. At the center of the screen there is a shield 20 which closes off the screening around the central part of the casing and opens through the collar 21 to pipe it). Outside of this shield and outside of the screen there is an opening 22 in the wall of the casing 2 which leads to a trash outlet pipe 24. The same construction is used on the left hand half of the body as is above described. The left half of the body includingthe parts 3, 5, 7 and 16a is a left hand counter part of the right hand side just described.

Operation With the cleaner body mounted on the picker frame and the pipes 7 and 8 connected to the outlet of the blowers which draw the cotton from the picking elements, and the pipe 10 connected to the cotton receiving cage, the operation of the cleaner is as follows:

The air entering on the right side at A (and on the left side at B) goes through the right and left portions of case 2 and exits at 10. Cotton entrained in this air is thrown along the path of the spiral vane 16 and con- Patented May 3, 1960 I sneer/a4 a tacts and rolls on the inner face of the cylindrical screen. 12. It is not intended that any air blowing through the screen shall alone separate the dirt from the cotton locks 28. On the contrary, the cotton locks are rotated on their own axes at high speed as they travel a spiral path between the convolutions of the vane 16 and against screen 12. As the locks are rotated in this travel centrifugal force created in the individual lock spins out and loosens dirt included or pressed onto the fibers of the locks. This dirt, once it is free of the fibers of a lock, will go through screen 12 due to the centrifugal force of the main air mass and a slight draft that flows from the interior of the screen to the annular space 14 Once the dirt enters the space 14 it loses most of its rotary motion but continues to travel longitudinally of the 'body '2 toward the outlet 22. The flow through'the space 14 is much less than the flow through the center space C, which is the central area within the screen 12 within the inner edges 34 of the spiral vane 16. This main draft through C carries cotton tufts or locks through the center of the screen and out through pipe 10. The lesser draft through the area 14 carries the dirt to opening 22 and out through pipe 24. Thus, separation is completed and the cotton entering the cage through pipe is up-graded due to elimination of dirt particles which were contained within the cotton locks and other dirt particles, commonly known as pin trash, as well as pieces of stems and leaves. All the trash that will go through the screen is thus separated from the cotton locks and forced out through pipe 24 which discharges toward the ground over which the picking machine travels.

In the modified form of the device, shown in Figure 4, the inlet is at the bottom and is indicated by numeral 40. This is connected to the outlet (not shown) of the blower on the picking machine. This type of cleaner is suited for single blower machines or stationary blowers used for cleaning only. The draft of air from the blower containing cotton and dirt advances upward through the casing 42 and attains a rotary motion from the spiral vane 46. This vane has a very high pitch on its entrance end 37 and a more shallow pitch at its inner end 38. Dirt, pin trash and the like are forced through the cylindrical screen 43 and into the annular area 44 surrounding the screen 43 and confined by case 41. Air in area 44 moves annularly and longitudinally upward to an annular dirt collecting chamber 54 and is discharged through pipe 47. Meanwhile cotton tufts in the main draft of air A--A are forced upward through the central portion of the interior .8 of the device body in a spiral path. The cotton locks 28 exit through the pipe 50 at the top of the casing. The main blast of air therefore, goes through the central portion 48 of the cleaner and the dirt carrying flow goes through the annular area 44 and into the annular chamber 54.

Separation in this model takes place in a similar manner as that in the form shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. The salient point in both these forms is that the dirt is thrown out of the cotton by its high speed rolling motion of the cotton locks on the interior of the cylindrical screen 43 and the dirt that enters the annular space 44 is conveyed along with any other trash that may accompany the cotton upward into the chamber 54.

In both forms separation does not take place merely by blowing air over or through the cotton as it lies on the screen or mere agitation of the cotton. The cotton is kept in rapid motion on the screen and maintains a substantially spiral path through the cleaner so that there is active contact between the locks and the interior of the screen. This has been found to be the most effective way of getting the included dirt out of the cotton locks. Loose dirt included in the air draft and entering the intake is easily separated by the screen in a manner well known to the art. The included dirt in the tufts, however, is removed and separated by this device in a new and improved manner, as above explained.

Whereas in the device shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 as well as in-the modified device shown in Figures 4 and 5 an ordinary screen of heavy wire, such as hardware cloth is shown, it is to be understood that a perforated metal plate, such as shown in part in Figure 6 may be used or a screen consisting of closely spaced rollers 53 journalled in an end plate 52 may be used as a screen 12b. This modification is shown in Figures 7 and 8. It is also to be understood that the screen 12 or 43 may be made in part of hardware cloth as shown, and a part of the length of the screen may include the type shown at 1.212 in Figures 7 and 8.

I claim:

1. A cotton cleaner, for use on cotton picking machines having a pair of blowers drawing air and entrained cotton from the picking mechanism and forcing it through a pipe to a cotton receiving cage, consisting of a cylindrical case closed at each end, air receiving pipes at each end of the case, each having outer ends adapted to be connected to the outlet pipe of a blower drawing air from picking mechanism and each being tangentially connected to one of the respective ends of said case, a cylindrical screen centrally and coaxially disposed within said case having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the inside of said case to provide an annular dirt collecting area between the outer surface of the screen and the inner surface of said case, spiral vanes in each end portion of said screen extending inwardly from the respective outer ends, of the screen and having a greater pitch at the outer end portion than at the inner end portion, said vanes directing the incoming air and cotton from the tangentially connected inlet pipes in a path rotating in the same direction as that induced by the adjacent tangential inlet pipe, a shield plate in the central portion of the wall of said screen, an outlet pipe opening into the center of said shield plate and extending tangentially outward from said case, and a dirt outlet in the wall of said case and opening into said annular dirt collecting area in said case.

2. A cotton cleaner for cleaning cotton entrained in a flow of air consisting of a cylindrical case closed at each end, air inlet pipes at each end of the case, tangentially connected to the respective ends of said case, a cylindrical screen centrally and coaxially disposed within said case having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the inside of said case to provide an annular dirt collecting area between the outer surface of the screen and the inner surface of said case, spiral vanes in each end portion of said screen extending inwardly from the respective outer ends of the screen and having a greater pitch at the outer end portion than at the inner end portion, said vanes directing the incoming air and cotton from the tangentially connected inlet pipes in a path rotating in the same direction as that induced by the adjacent tangential inlet pipe, a shield plate in the central portion of the wall of said screen, a cleaned cotton outlet pipe opening into the center of said shield plate and extending tangentially outward from said case, and a dirt outlet in the wall of said case and opening into said annular dirt collecting area in said case.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 613,993 Hart Nov. 8, 1898 1,011,015 Benefield Dec. 5, 1911 1,064,989 Palmer June 17, 1913 2,076,988 Garrett Apr. 13, 1937 2,196,791 Murray et a1. Apr. 9, 1940 2,668,330 Gieszl Feb. 9, 1954 

